Alisia Atwater leads the Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts at John Deere. Prior to joining John Deere in 2022, she served as the Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for what was at the time Amazon’s fastest growing division, Global Specialty Fulfillment. Alisia has held leadership positions in Safety, Food Safety, Compliance, Corporate Responsibility, Research and Development, Engineering, Operations and Quality over her career. She is highly regarded for expertise in designing, building, and integrating world-class management systems across Fortune 50 companies.

A self-proclaimed lifelong learner, Alisia is wrapping up her final semester of law school at the University of Chicago Law School located in downtown Chicago. She is a member of the Phi Beta Law Honor Society and won best Oralist in the 2022 law school oral advocacy competition. Alisia also holds a B.S. in Operations Management from Auburn University, and two master’s Degrees, an MBA from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Master of Science in Regulatory Affairs for Food and the Food Industry from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.

Alisia was recognized by the Zion Elementary District as one of its 2022 Women (Re) writing History Honorees. From 2009 through 2012, Alisia proudly served as the first woman and African American Chair of the Keep Virginia Beautiful Board of Directors, a 80-year-old organization based in Richmond, Virginia.

Alisia is happily married to Terry V. Atwater II, her childhood sweetheart, and together they have five children, four boys and one girl. Mentoring underprivileged girls is not only her passion, but in her own words “her obligation to bestow the same blessings she received on the children in her community.” She is the founder and coordinator of the Dorcas Center for Teen girls at her church. A non-profit organization dedicated to teaching young ladies about self-esteem and life-skills.